Smoothies make a great quick breakfast meal, but they’re often a hassle during the busy morning rush. These smoothie freezer packs will help you get your day off to a good start, without adding more stress to your morning routine.

Smoothies are supposed to be a convenient, on-the-go meal, that’s easy and makes you feel good about drinking it. But are they? Let’s talk about what we know about smoothies:

• They’re made up of whole foods – fruits, veggies, oats, or whatever you decide to put in yours, so they’re super healthy!
• They make you feel like a super parent when you see your kids drinking all of that fruit + veggies goodness.
• BUT there is a bit of prep work involved, and some mornings it’s hard to find the time to take all the ingredients out, blend them up and clean up afterwards.

So there’s the good and there’s the bad, right?

But the bad can be really bad when you’ve also got a toddler (or teenager haha) running around, demanding your attention. I can barely get the ingredients out of the fridge without a struggle, and I still have to wash, cut, blend, and clean up.

That’s just not happening for me most mornings. Well, unless I’ve prepared ahead.

Let me introduce you to the amazing idea of “make ahead” smoothie smoothie freezer packs. Just take a few hours and prep up some individual bags of smoothie ingredients, then on those crazy mornings… just grab a bag from your freezer and blend.

Today I’m sharing nine of my favorite smoothie recipes that you can freeze ahead of time, plus the easiest way to start any smoothie with my Yum Yum Smoothie Base!

What Is The “Yum Yum Smoothie Base”

Adding yogurt is one of the easiest ways to make a smoothie richer, creamier and just plain delicious. However, I don’t always have yogurt on hand, and a big tub of yogurt takes up a lot of precious real estate in my fridge.

After experimenting, I found that mixing greek yogurt with vanilla extract and orange juice concentrate created the perfect combination for any smoothie, and my Yum Yum Smoothie Base was perfected!

I make this yum yum base up, and freeze it in ice cube trays then add them to the make ahead smoothie kits. These elevate your smoothie status from Smoothie Newbie to Smoothie Queen – you’ll be rocking it!

What Goes Well In A Smoothie?

Frozen fruits such as blueberries, strawberries or mangoes make a great starting point. Other fruits, such as bananas or pineapples, compliment berries and can create a more rich flavor for your smoothie.

If you feel like you need more vegetables in your diet…and let’s be honest, sometimes you don’t just want to snack on a carrot stick…I’ve found that spinach (easy enough to grow yourself!) or beets can work really well in smoothies.

Nuts or oats can help make the smoothie feel more like meal, giving you fuel for the day.

Some more offbeat ingredients, like cilantro or ginger, can brighten flavor.

So simple, right?

After years of experimenting with my daily smoothie, I’ve found a lot of combinations that work, and some that don’t. I’ve included eight of my best recipes below but I’m sure there’s many more. Be sure to comment with your favorite smoothie ingredient combos!

How Do You Freeze Your Make-Ahead Smoothie Freezer Packs?

This is the easiest part! Simply gather all your ingredients (without the water), portion into ziplock freezer bags, and squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before labeling and freezing. That’s it!

And the best part is smoothie packs can be kept in the freezer for up to three months – meaning you can enjoy more variety, more often!

Mornings may be busy, but with make ahead Smoothie Freezer Packs, there’s no excuse not to start your day with something healthy, and so delicious.

MAKE AHEAD SMOOTHIE KITS RECIPE

Makes 12 smoothies (6 quart sized freezer bags that make 2 smoothies each bag)

Yum Yum Smoothie Base

• 1-½ cups greek yogurt (24 oz Greek God Yogurt (1 lb 8 oz container)
• 1-½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1-½ cups frozen orange juice concentrate, partially thawed (12 oz container)

Other ingredients for smoothies

• 6 cups frozen fruit (see recipes below)
• 3 bananas, optional (see recipes below)
• other optional ingredients to add to your smoothies such as nuts, oats, spinach, kale, cilantro, flax seed, protein powder, ect.

1. In a small bowl combine yogurt, vanilla and orange juice concentrate. Stir until smooth. Place into silicone based ice cube trays measuring 1 tbsp (15 mL) into each spot. Or if you don’t have the trays you can line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and measure out 1 tbsp sized blobs onto the tray. Place in freezer and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. This should make 48 cubes or blobs that are 1 tbsp each.

2. If using banana in your smoothie, slice banana into 1/4 inch slices and place individually on parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.

3. Label 6 freezer quart sized bags. Remove ice cube trays and any frozen fruit from freezer; add smoothie base cubes and all ingredients as listed below to each bag. Seal bags, removing as much air as possible and freeze.

Making Smoothies

Add contents of freezer smoothie bag to blender with 1/2 cup (125 mL) water. Blend. Add more water if necessary to get desired consistency. Each recipe makes two smoothies.

Green Smoothie

• 2 cups (500 mL) packed fresh green spinach
• 1/2 banana frozen slices
• 1 cup (250 mL) frozen pineapple chunks
• 8 cubes or blobs of Yum Yum yogurt base

Orange Dream

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) frozen orange sherbet cut into chunks
• 8 cubes or blobs of Yum Yum yogurt base

Blueberry Orange

• 1 cup (250 mL) frozen blueberries
• 1/2 banana, frozen slices
• 8 cubes or blobs of Yum Yum yogurt base

Strawberry Banana

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• ½ banana frozen slices
• 8 cubes or blobs of Yum Yum yogurt base

Cherry Bliss

• 1 cup pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
• ¼ cup sliced raw almonds
• 8 cubes or blobs of Yum Yum yogurt base

Blackberry Coconut

• 1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
• ¼ cup shredded or toasted raw coconut
• 8 cubes of Yum Yum yogurt base

Just Beet It

• 1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 small raw beet, peeled and diced
• ½ banana
• 8 cubes of Yum Yum yogurt base

Mango Pear

• ½ cup mango, fresh or frozen
• 1 pear, cored and chopped
• ½ banana
• 8 cubes of Yum Yum yogurt base

Pina Colada

• Yum Yum smoothie base change: omit orange juice concentrate and substitute coconut extract for vanilla
• 1 cup frozen pineapple
• ¼ cup shredded coconut

WANT MORE SMOOTHIE RECIPES?

• Make Ahead Green Smoothie
• Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie
• Wild Orange Smoothie using Essential Oils

If you come up with any other amazing smoothie recipes using my yum yum base please share it in the comments below – I’d love to try it out!